Currault, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary at Freeport-McMoRan, joined the company in 2008 following a 20-year career at Jones Walker LLP, where he had worked with the company as outside corporate and securities counsel since 1995.

Freeport-McMoRan said Currault had played a significant role in every major transaction for the company in the past 20 years.

"He has extensive experience in a range of legal matters, including core expertise in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions, and securities laws," it said.

Currault earned his bachelor of science in mathematics, cum laude from Loyola University New Orleans and his juris doctor, cum laude, from Tulane University Law School.